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L EWIS D ARTNELL
Curriculum Vitae
Space Research Centre
Dept. Physics & Astronomy
University of Leicester
Leicester LE1 7RH
[email protected]
www.lewisdartnell.com
Academic History
2013 -
Space Research Centre, University of Leicester
UK Space Agency Aurora Fellowship,
STFC Science in Society Fellowship
2009 - 2013
Centre for Planetary Sciences, University College London
UCL Institute of Origins Post Doctoral Research Associateship
2003 - 2008
CoMPLEX (Centre for Mathematics & Physics in the
Life Sciences and Experimental Biology)
University College London
4-year combined MRes-PhD programme
PhD: ‘Computer modelling and experimental work on the astrobiological
implications of the martian subsurface ionising radiation environment’
MRes in ‘Modelling biological complexity’: Distinction
1999 - 2002
The Queen’s College, University of Oxford
BA (Hons) Biological Sciences: First Class
Michel Scholarship
1994 - 1999
Charterhouse School, Godalming
Distinction at STEP level, 4 A at A-level, 8 A* at GCSE.
Sutton Scholarship, Foundation Scholarship
Awards & Appointments
2014
2013
2013
2011
2009
2008
Appointed to UK Space Agency Communications Working Group
Awarded UK Space Agency Aurora Fellowship
Awarded STFC Science in Society Fellowship
Appointed to the Senior Editorial Board of Astrobiology journal
Awarded UCL Institute of Origins Postdoctoral Research Associateship
Invited to serve as planetary consultant for BBC Sky at Night, writing a monthly Cutting
Edge column
2008 Selected as a EPSRC NOISEmaker ambassador for science and engineering.
2007 Appointed to International Academy of Astronautics Study Group 1.5: ‘Particle Radiation
Hazards en route to, and in orbit about, Mars’
2007 Selected for NASA Space Radiation Summer School (NSRSS), USA.
2007 Wellcome Trust and New Scientist Essay Competition, runner-up
2006 European Geophysical Union award for Young Scientist Outstanding Poster Presentation,
including an invited paper
2006 Invited on to the Committee of the Astrobiology Society of Britain. Currently, Secretary of
the Society.
2005 British Association for the Advancement of Science Perspectives public outreach prize,
runner-up
2004 Daily Telegraph/BASF Young Science Writer Award, Second prize
2004 Royal Astronomy Society Science Writing Competition, First prize
2003 Times Higher Education Supplement/Oxford University Press Science Writing
Competition, Second prize
Teaching experience
I have prepared and delivered a five-week evening course on planetary science and astrobiology
at the Royal Observatory Greenwich (Nov’10) and also for The Royal Institution (Sep’12). I am
a guest lecturer at the International Space University (May '14) and have also lectured on
astrobiology courses run by STFC summer school (Sept’07, Sept’09), the Scottish Universities
Physics Alliance (Dec’07), and the Origins of Life course run by the Viennese Biocenter
(Nov’10). I was selected as the Biology department Writing and Learning Mentor, running
lectures and classes to help students with their academic writing (2008). I also have five years of
experience in private tuition of science and mathematics for CE, GCSE and A-level students.
Student supervision
Nov 2011-Sept 2012: MSc, Planetary Sciences, UCL – Kira Lorber
June 2011-Sept 2011: MRes, CoMPLEX, UCL – Tom Roberts
June 2011-Sept 2011: MSc, Cranfield Uni – Sophie Russell
Nov 2010-Sept 2011: MSc, Planetary Sciences, UCL – Angelica Estelles
Oct 2010-Mar 2011: MSci, Earth Sciences, UCL – Michaela Musilova. Paper in prep
Apr 2010:
MRes, CoMPLEX, UCL – Maria Botcharova
Apr 2010:
MRes, CoMPLEX, UCL – Michaela Moores.
May-Aug 2008:
MRes, CoMPLEX, UCL – David Fallaize. Published [8]
Peer-reviewing
I am a Senior Editor on the editorial board of Astrobiology journal, and been running and
commissioning their Reviews section for four years. I have peer-reviewed research proposals for
the US National Astrobiology Institute (NAI), STFC and UK Space Agency, two book proposals
and also a total of more than 35 papers for the journals
Science, Nature Communications, Geology, Astrobiology, International Journal of Astrobiology,
Planetary and Space Science, Earth Moon and Planets, Journal of Geophysical Research,
Origins of Life and the Evolution of Biospheres, and Sustainability.
Conference organisation & talks
I co-organised a Royal Astronomical Society Specialist Discussion meeting on planetary
habitability, ‘Is the Earth Special?’, Dec 2011. I sit on the Astrobiology Society of Britain (ASB)
Committee, overseeing the organisation of the 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2015 Astrobiology
conferences. I co-organised the 2006 EPSRC Life Science Interface Conference and the 2007
CoMPLEX Conference. I have given Invited talks at Vienna Biocenter Center 'Origins of Life'
symposium (Nov'10), European Geophysical Union General Assembly (Apr'07), 3rd European
Space Weather Week (Nov'06), and also talked at ASB4 (Apr’10), Swedish Astrobiology
Network meeting (Nov’09), UK Space Biomedicine Conference (Nov’09), Habitability in the
Galaxy (Oct’08), Space Generation Congress (Oct’08), ASB3 (Jul’08), European Astrobiology
Network Association (Oct’07), European Geophysical Union General Assembly (Apr'07),
COSPAR 36th Scientific Assembly (July'06), as well as numerous other seminars and smaller
meetings.
Publications
Journals
25. De Angelis, G., Dartnell, L.R. (IN PRESS) Modeling of the Radiation Environment on Mars.
I. Modeling Approaches and Techniques
24. De Angelis, G., Dartnell, L.R. (IN PRESS) Modeling of the Radiation Environment on Mars.
II. Results from Calculations.
23. Domagal-Goldman, S., Wright, K., et al. (IN PRESS) Astrobiology Primer, Astrobiology
22. Dartnell, L.R., Nordheim, T.A., Patel, M.R., Mason, J.P., Coates, A.J., Jones, G.H. (IN
PRESS) Constraints on a potential aerial biosphere on Venus: I. Cosmic Rays, Icarus
21. Musilova, M., Wright, G., Ward, J.M., Dartnell, L.R. (IN PRESS) Isolation of radiation
resistant bacteria from Mars-analogue Antarctic Dry Valleys by pre-selection and the
correlation between radiation and desiccation resistance.
20. Nordheim, T.A., Dartnell, L.R., Desorgher, L., Coates, A.J., Jones, G.H. (2015) Ionization
of the Venusian atmosphere from solar and galactic cosmic rays. Icarus 245 (0) p. 80-86
19. Herschy, B., Whicher, A., Camprubi, E., Watson, C., Dartnell, L.R., Ward, J., Evans,
J.R.G., Lane, N. (2014) “An Origin-of-Life Reactor to Simulate Alkaline Hydrothermal
Vents.” Journal of Molecular Evolution, 79(5-6) p.213-227
18. Dartnell, L.R, and Patel, M. (2014) Degradation of microbial fluorescence biosignatures by
solar ultraviolet radiation on Mars. International Journal of Astrobiology, 13(2), p. 112-123.
17. Preston, L.J., Dartnell, L.R, (2014) Planetary habitability: lessons learned from terrestrial
analogues. International Journal of Astrobiology. 13(1), p 81-98.
16. Dartnell, L.R, Roberts, T., Moore, G., Ward, J., and Muller, J.-P. (2013) Fluorescence
Characterization of Clinically-Important Bacteria. PLoS ONE 8:e75270. 15. Zhang, D., Muller, J.-P., Lavender, S., Walton, D., and Dartnell, L.R. (2012) Fluorescent
analysis of photosynthetic microbes and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons linked to
optical remote sensing. In: Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., p 555559. 14. Dartnell, L.R., Patel, M., Storrie-Lombardi, M.C., Ward, J.M., and Muller, J.-P. (2012)
Experimental determination of photostability and fluorescence-based detection of PAHs on
the Martian surface. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 47:806-819. 13. Dartnell, L.R., Page, K., Villar, S.J., Wright, G., Munshi, T., Scowen, I., Ward, J., and
Edwards, H. (2012) Destruction of Raman biosignatures by ionising radiation and the
implications for life-detection on Mars. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 403:131144. * This publication was selected by the journal editors as a ‘Paper In
Forefront’ 12. Dartnell, L.R., Storrie-Lombardi, M., Mullineaux, C., Ruban, A., Wright, G., Griffiths, A.,
Muller, J.-P., and Ward, J. (2011) Degradation of Cyanobacterial Biosignatures by Ionizing
Radiation. Astrobiology 11:997-1016. 11. Dartnell, L.R. (2011) Ionizing Radiation and Life. Astrobiology 11:551-582. 10. Dartnell, L.R., Storrie-Lombardi, M.C., and Ward, J.M. (2010) Complete fluorescent
fingerprints of extremophilic and photosynthetic microbes. International Journal of
Astrobiology 9:245-257. 09. Dartnell, L.R., Hunter, S., Lovell, K., Coates, A., and Ward, J. (2010) Low-Temperature
Ionizing Radiation Resistance of Deinococcus radiodurans and Antarctic Dry Valley
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Bacteria. Astrobiology 10:717-732. * This paper was selected as a key article by the
journal editor and so offered as Open Access
Dartnell, L.R., Fallaize, D., Whiting, S., and Ward, J. (2010) Desiccation resistance of
Antarctic Dry Valley bacteria isolated from contrasting locations,. Antarct Sci 22:171-172.
Dartnell, L.R., and Burchell, M. (2009) Survey on Astrobiology Research and Teaching
Activities Within the United Kingdom. Astrobiology 9:717–730. Le Postollec, A., Incerti, S., Dobrijevic, M., Desorgher, L., Santin, G., Moretto, P.,
Vandenabeele-Trambouze, O., Coussot, G., Dartnell, L.R., and Nieminen, P. (2009)
Monte-Carlo simulation of the radiation environment encountered by a biochip during a
space mission to Mars. Astrobiology 9:311-323. Morthekai, P., Jaina, M., Dartnell, L.R., Murray, A., Bøtter-Jensen, L., and Desorgher, L.
(2007) Dose-rate variations with depth in the Martian regolith: Model simulations and
constraints. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A 580:667670. Dartnell, L.R., Desorgher, L., Ward, J.M., and Coates, A.J. (2007) Martian sub-surface
ionising radiation: biosignatures and geology. Biogeosciences 4:545-558. * This paper
was an invited contribition after my EGU Outstanding Young Scientist award
Dartnell, L.R., Desorgher, L., Ward, J., and Coates, A. (2007) Modelling the surface and
subsurface Martian radiation environment: Implications for Astrobiology. Geophysical
Research Letters 34:L02207. * This paper was selected by the editors for a ‘Special
Highlight’ in the journal
Dartnell, L.R., Ward, J.M., and Coates, A.J. (2006) Modelling Planetary Radiation
Environments: Astrobiological Perspectives. European Modelling Symposium (ISBN 09516509-3-9/978-0-9516509-3-6). Dartnell, L.R., Simeonidis, E., Hubank, M., Tsoka, S., Bogle, I., and Papageorgiou, L.
(2005) Robustness of the p53 network and biological hackers. FEBS Letters 579:30373042.
Ph.D. thesis ‘Computer modelling and experimental work on the astrobiological implications of
the martian subsurface ionising radiation environment’, University College London, April
2008
The Geophysical Research Letters paper (#3) was selected by the editors for a special
highlight in the journal, and received considerable media attention. The
Biogeosciences publication (#4) was an invited paper from my EGU
Outstanding Young Scientist award, and included an invited talk at the
General Assembly in April 2007. My recent Astrobiology publication (#9) was
selected by the Editor-in-Chief of the journal as a Key Paper, and my 2012
ABC paper (#13) was selected by the journal editor as a ‘Paper In Forefront’.
In addition, my Ph.D. thesis was independently re-published in May 2010 in
paperback by Lambert Academic Publishing as ‘Martian Death Rays’
www.amazon.co.uk/Martian-Death-Rays-experimental-astrobiological
Learned Publications
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5.
D. Waltham & L. R. Dartnell (2012), Is the Earth special?, Astronomy & Geophysics,
53(4), p.25–29
L. R. Dartnell (2011), Biological constraints on habitability, Astronomy & Geophysics,
52(1), p.25–28
L. R. Dartnell (2010), The Search for Our Neighbours, Public Service Review: Science
and Technology, issue 7, p.19
M. Burchell & L. R Dartnell (2009), Astrobiology in the UK, Astronomy & Geophysics,
50(4), p27–30
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L. R. Dartnell (2008), A Living Mars?, Geology Today, 24(2), p.62-67
L. R. Dartnell (2008), Mars: Waterworld or Dune?, The Biochemist, 30(4), p.22-25
L. R. Dartnell (2008), Space Bugs, Microbiology Today, May 2008, p.62-64
L. R. Dartnell (2005), It's life, Jim..., Astronomy & Geophysics, 46(1), p1.12-1.13
Books
3. Lewis Dartnell (2014), 'The Knowledge: How to Rebuild
our World from Scratch' , Bodley Head, hardback 352 pages,
ISBN: 978-1847922274
2. Lewis Dartnell (2012), ‘My Tourist Guide to the Solar
System and Beyond’, Dorling Kindersley, hardback 64 pages,
ISBN: 9781405391429
1. Lewis Dartnell (2007), ‘Life in the Universe: A Beginner's
Guide’, Oneworld Publications, paperback
224 pages, ISBN: 1851685057
The Knowledge (www.the-knowledge.org) has been translated
into 14 languages and is a New York Times and Sunday Times
best-seller, and also The Sunday Times ‘New Thinking’ Book of
the Year.
International/National Media
I have a regular column in BBC Sky at Night and also regularly write news and feature articles
for New Scientist, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, BBC Focus and Times Higher Education.
I have appeared in a number of TV documentaries such as BBC Horizon, Wonders of the
Universe, Stargazing Live, and Sky at Night, as well as shows on National Geographic,
Discovery and History channels. I have also acted as scientific consultant and script-writer for
films including a full-dome planetarium show ‘We Are Aliens‘ and documentaries with Brian Cox.
Further details of my media work is available on my website www.lewisdartnell.com